Roll splitter

ABSTRACT

A splitter for splitting a roll of paper along a radius thereof or a stack of sheets of steel or aluminum along any vertical sectional line through the stack comprising, a frame adapted to receive the roll or stack therewithin in fixed relationship thereto, a mounting bar supported by the frame and adaptable for horizontal reciprocation relative to the roll or stack, means for raising and lowering the bar relative to the frame, a knife mounted on the mounting bar, oscillatory means integral with the mounting bar, and a motor for driving the oscillatory means and for reciprocating the knife for the cutting of the roll or stack.

United States-Patent [72] Inventor Gerald A. lrwin FOREIGN PATENTS Fort Edward, 178,597 Great Britain 83/647 [21] P 749485 I Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz [22] Filed Aug. 1,1968

, Assistant Exammer .lames F. Coan [45] Patented Jan. 19,1971 5 [73] Assignee Sandy Hill Corporation Attorneys-Kenwood Ross and Chester E. Flavm Hudson Falls, N.Y.

[54] ROLL SPLITTER 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S.Cl..l 83/460, ABSTRACT; A splitter f splitting a roll of paper along a 83/54, 833/461 83/647 radius thereof or a stack of sheets of steel or aluminum along Int-CL 326d 3/28 any vertical sectional line through the stack om i in a 326d 7/02 frame adapted to receive the roll or stack therewithin in fixed Field of Search 83/647, relationship thereto, a mounting bar supported by the frame 924, 451,452, 646, 466, 461, 460; 83/5 and adaptable for horizontal reciprocation relative to the roll 5 6 R f d or stack, means for raising and lowering the bar relative to the l 1 e erences l e frame, a knife mounted on the mounting bar, oscillatory UNITED STATES PATENTS means integral with the mounting bar, and a motor for driving 986,831 1911 Kennedy et al.. 83/924UX the oscillatory means and for reciprocating the knife for the 3,173,321 1965 Obenshain et al. 83/647X cutting of the roll or stack.

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, 3 55s;95:3 'sussjnurs a INVENTOR.

GERALD A. IRWIN fme im ATTORNEYS.

I PATENTEU m1 9 15m 7 V I v "3.555953 swingers 1 v I an INVENTOR.

GERALD A. IRWIN ATTORNEYS.

' BACKGROUND OF THE-INVENTION l. FieldOfThelnvention Mechanism for; operating, upon a ,roll of; paper or stack of sheets of steel or aluminum to splitsame-alo'nga radius thereof without noise, dirt or danger:

2. Description Of The Prior Art Heretofore, in paper mills, the roll'splitting' operation has been a manual one, the millhan'd inserting: a picking tool, s haped rnuch like a letteropener, at one side of the-roll and underneathsuch a number: of layers of paper: as he is capable of tearing with;his;,own.sttengthmerely by theprocedure of. running the pickingtoolacross the top of theroll so as to split such layers longitudinally thereof. Such an operation obvi ously involves brute force and, even though the millhandmay possess unusually. great strength and be capable of splitting a. large number'of layers in one-pass, the. operation is nonetheless back. breaking, time consuming and, of course, costly.

lthas heretofore been;proposed also to effectthe splitting. of

such rolls-.by meansof. the skilllsaw or: the soft-bladedcknife-v method, but such methods have'provedto beunsatisfactoryxin that they areslow. and laborious andcreate problemsof paper dust and litter; I

Still-anotherproposahhas been .the guillotine knifetypeof: constructions butsame= requires extremely, high" pressures whichuoccasion the:needfonheavyfloorwreinforcing. Too, mill.

headroomsmay be such as to preoludeuse ofa guillotine SUMMARY osrr-ram'vars rion The invention relates tostructural refinements'in a. roll splitter, and is.directediparticularly, butnot-exclusively, to the provision of a mechanism for operatingupona rollof paper so a as to split.samealongaradius thereof and which substitu esan oscillating cuttingblade for the more. com'mon cuttingaction of a guillotine-knifeEtoallow alcuttingthrough aetionwithottt dictatinga needfor: the;high':.pressures common with the-gull lotine type ofknife;

The splitting actionxis accomplished by a. rapidireciprocatsing motion of thecutting-biade, togetherwitha regulated pres sure over and beyond the weight of the blade assembly'itself so as to effectuate cutting cleanly and quickly through the roll to the centeror to the corethereof.

The cutting movement of the blade! assembly maybe stoppedbeforethe blade-reaches the coreof theeroll, thus offering substantial savings through core salvage The splitter hasa capacity forcuttingapaperroll such as a. reject roll or an end roll aszcut-off from theend of :a finished roll or reject roll of paper, preparatory to returning the paper so slit to a broke beateror hydrapulper whereforexsame. may be repulpedto a slush'for reuse in-thepaper:makingprocess: Usually therolls. serviced are large .-diameter=rolls, the paper thereof being. substantially continuous; the roll being-reduced.

Easily accommodatable toany size of roll, diameterwiseand! widthwise, the raising. and ;.lowcring. ot the. knife, and 1 the s clamping of the. roll. are 1: handled either pneumatically or I hydraulically. During cutting, the: roll "or rolls are 1 held or.

beneath a horizontally-disposed,and horizontally-reciprocating cutting knife, similar to a guillotine, which knife is supported and guided by the stands. The locating of the cutting knife is controlled by a powered air or hydraulic cylinder which permits the-knife to be raised or'lowered relative to the roll to be split. The knife is preferably, though not obligatorily, longer in length than the width of the roll to be split.

The cutting knife is set. down from a nonoperative position away from to an operative positionupon the peripheral surface of the-roll to be split by-means of the cylinder which vertically adjusts its location; The cylinder provides a sufficient weight to causc the knife to bear heavily. upon the roll for the cutting action;

The tool which attacks a roll radially and acts not only to sever consecutive layersof the roll'but'also to separate these along theline of severance so as automatically to provide clearance for the further-advance of thetool. These large rolls. when not supported at the sides are 'quiteelastic and subject to considerabledeformation before cuttingztakesplace. For this reason, a slow, gradualapproach of the tool is preferred to a rapid, impactaction.

With the equipment motor operational, the knife is rapidly reciprocated'in longitudinal directions so as to effect a severing of one layerafteranother of the paper of the roll through a radius of the. rollto'thecore. As the succeeding layers of paper arecut, the opposite ends thereof, asprovided by the cutting action, fall of their ownweight and, by the wedging action of the knife, fallaway from each sideof' the knife to form a flat pileonthefloor. pallet or conveyor forwardly and rearwardly of and beneaththe roll. W-henthe knife reaches the roll core.

' the cutting action maybeterminated; the core removed, and

clamped 'bya pneumaticarrangement. The operator can stop' the. splitter before the blade 1 reaches the core. There" is a complete absence. of dust and litterresultingfromthe cutting.

operation: it

the-resulting papenslabs then disposed of, as desired. The pile of sheets so providedmay be fed directly into a broke beater ,or'hydrapulper, thereto beconvertedinto a mass of liquid pulp suitable forreuse in the-papermakingprocess.

"The extreme-pressuresnormally requiredfor a verticallydisposed'knife, in-orderxto produce a capacity for driving the knife downwardly throughthe successive layers of paper, are notrequisitehere. That is; theaction hereof is likened to that of a saw movingback and-forth so that the features of power .and strength required in the supporting structure are advantageously less thanthosefound necessary in known prior artapparatusoperating on the principleof a knife which is forced vertically downwardlythrough the mass of paper in the rollbeingsevered;

BRlEF'DESCRlP-TION OF'THEDRAWINGS FIG. I is a broken, front'elevational view of apparatus embodying a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 isan enlarged top planview of the power clamp means;

FIG. 3is an eniargedztopplan view of the manual clamp means; and

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the manual clamp means.

DESCRIPTION'OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I haveshown a frame comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, vertically-extending.standslO; each arranged on a foot 12, and an upper, horizontally-disposed, transversely extending, cross'brace beam14fiked to andfinterconnecting stands 10 at their upper'extremities.

Feet IZ maybe secured to the floor by any conventional means to impart strength and rigidity thereto and to eliminate objectional vibration or other movement thereof.

A roll of paper, not shown, is disposed centrally of and between the-.standswith'thelowermost periphery of the roll beingin contact with'andsupported-upwardly of the floor or base. Conceivably; if'the roll 'is-of great'weight, it may be loaded as byrollingit along the floor'to its proper operative position betweenthestands, or it maybe moved thereto as by a lift truck or thelikee The roll is cradled firmly in position relative to the apparatus by a pair of telescopic clamping devices, one of which may be power operated and the other of which may be manually operated. Alternatively, both may be power operated or both may be manually operated.

The power operated clamping device, generally indicated by 20, comprises a horizontally-extending clamping plate 22 fixed to the inner ends of each of a pair of spaced, parallel. horizontally-extending guide rods 24, each of which is slideably related to a guide sleeve 26 fixed in, and extending horizontally outwardly from, a bracket 28 fixed to one of stands by bolts 30 with nuts 32 threadedly engageable therewith.

Air or hydraulic cylinder 34, fixed centrally of bracket 28 as by bolts 36, has a piston rod 38 extendable through the bracket and has its innermost end fixed centrally of clamping plate 22 by a bolt 40, the piston rod being located centrally between and coplanar with guide rods 24.

Actuation of the cylinder moves the piston rod forwardly or rearwardly to move clamping plate 22 toward or away from the end of a roll of paper disposed between the stands, with guide rods 24 sliding relative to guide sleeves 26.

The manually operated clamping device, generally indicated by 50, comprises a horizontally-extending clamping plate 52 fixed to the inner ends of each of a pair of spaced, parallel. horizontally-extending guide rods 54, each of which is slideably related to a guide sleeve 56 fixed in, and extending horizontally outwardly from, a bracket 58 fixed to one of stands 10 by bolts 60.

Extensions 70, telescopically related to each clamping device, accommodate short rolls and comprise a supplemental clamping plate 72 fixed to the inner ends of each of a pair of spaced, parallel, horizontally-extending supplemental guide rods 74, each of which is telescopically related to guide rods 24 or 54 as appropriate.

Each of guide rod 24 and 54 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 76 which extend vertically therethrough and supplemental guide rods 74 are provided with a plurality of like openings 78 therethrough registrable with openings 76, wherefore a locking device 80 such as a U-bolt may be inserted into registered openings 76 and 78 to preclude movement ofthe extensions relative to the clamping devices.

The extensions may be adjusted to a plurality of positions by the simple expedient of removing the U-bolts and realigning certain other of openings 76 and 78.

Of course, when longer rolls are being cut, the extensions may be omitted entirely.

The clamping devices are disposed on opposite sides of the roll and the clamping plates are brought to bear tightly against the adjacent side faces of the roll in clamping manner to hold the roll in position more or less centrally of and relative to the structure for the slitting operation.

The clamping plates are so located as to embrace the roll and immobilize it, holding the roll at points below the central axis thereof so as not to interfere with the slitting action, it being understood that the roll is preferentially positioned centrally of and beneath the knife so that the knife initiates its cutting action at substantially the top" of the roll and continues to cut radially therethrough.

A horizontally-disposed reciprocable mounting bar 82 is supported by and disposed between the stands, the opposite ends thereof being receivable throughpairs of spaced, parallel, vertically-extending inner and outer guideways 84 and 86 respectively fixed to the inner and outer faces of each of stands 10.

The mounting bar is movable vertically relative to the stands within limits as determined by the vertical dimensions of the guideways, the opposite ends'of the mounting bar being carried by wheeled inner and outer trolley assemblies 88 and 90 respectively which roll along and relative to the respective guideways.

One end of the mounting bar is operatively connected to means for effecting its vertical movement, and the opposite end of the mounting bar is operatively connected to means for effecting its horizontal reciprocating movement.

The means for effecting its vertical movement includes an air or pneumatic cylinder 92, the piston rod 94 of which is connected to a bracket 96 fixed to one of the outer trolley ussemblies 90, bracket 96 having an arm 98 depending therefrom and fixed at its lower end to the adjacent end of the mounting bar, arm 98 being pivoted at its upper end at 100 to the bracket, wherefore the arm may swing relative to the bracket as the mounting bar is horizontally-reciprocated.

The cylinder has a combination inlet and outlet at its upper end and a similar connection at its lower end. These connections all run to a single conventional four way valve which will supply fluid pressure, preferably compressed air, alternately to opposite ends of the cylinders.

A cable 102 is secured to each outer trolley assembly 90 and is entrained around a pair of lower pulleys 104 journaled relative to each stand 10 and around pairs of upper pulleys 106 journaled relative to brace beam 14 at opposite ends thereof so that vertical movement of one end of the mounting bar effects concomitant movement of the opposite end thereof thereby to effectuate a raising or lowering of the mounting bar relative to the stands and relative also to a roll positioned therebetween.

A horizontally-disposed cutting knife 108 is fixed to and depends downwardly from the mounting bar so as to be freely reciprocable horizontally with the mounting bar upon actuation.

An oscillatory means 110, of any well known type, drives the mounting bar and knife in oscillatory motion along its longitudinal axis, same being driven by a motor 112, the motor and oscillatory means being mounted upon a suitable bracket 114 secured to one of the outer trolly assemblies 90, the motor being connected to the oscillatory means as by a chain or belt drive, not shown. The oscillating means may comprise a pneumatic or electrical oscillator of the type which will produce the desired oscillations in the amplitude range of say 1 inch only and in the frequency range of say 275 to 300 strokes per minute.

Operationally, a roll is suitably positioned centrally of stands 10 and is held secure relative thereto by the clamping devices.

The cylinder connected to the mounting bar is preferably such as to exert a dimensional force of approximately 20 pounds per square inch when released from fixed position with the cutting edge of knife 108 being brought to rest upon the uppermost peripheral surface of the roll.

The motor is thereupon energized to actuate oscillatory means to bring about the reciprocation of mounting bar 82 and cutting knife 108.

The reciprocating motion of the cutting knife produces a severing action in that the knife edge thereof penetrates through successive layers of the paper of the roll until all layers of paper along the radius of the roll have been severed.

As a layer of paper is thus split, it exhibits a tendency to fall away from the knife on each side thereof due to the weight of the paper itself and to assume a horizontal position upon the floor or base supporting the roll.-

Following theslitting of the roll along a radius, the knife may be raised upwardly from the core of the roll to the inoperative position indicated by the dash lines in FIG. 1, wherein the knife is contained within a guard 116 suspended from brace beam 14 as by hangers 118.

As the knife makes contact with the roll, the initial action is one of compression. The roll is flattened at top and bottom and is distended laterally. When the limit of compression is reached, the knife begins to cut through the consecutive layers of paper, reducing each convolution to an independent sheet. The combined profiles of the knife and its holder are such as to separate the severed edges of each convolution, which, due to the lateral distension of the roll are under tension. The result is that the severed convolutions promptly flop" into the general plane of the frame. The knife, therefore is self- 5 6 clearing. This is an important feature since the knife may be mounted on the inner ends of a pair of horizonatally-excalled on to cut through as much as 60 inches of superimposed tending guide rods a h slidably related to a id l v plies. a mounted on the other of the stands of the frame for lclaim: manually motivating the clamping plate into embracing A P P sPlmer for pl n a P l? along and 5 position with respect to the other respective end of the through a radius thereof comprising in combination: paper u;

3 frame "U form of a P of P venlcanyfxtendmg a vertically extending guideway slot on the inboard face of stands disposed as to each other for the disposition of the each Stand f the f P p rontherebetweeni a horizontally-disposed mounting bar cxtendable between a pair of telescoping clamping devices for holding the paper 10 roll in fixed relationship to and between the stands of the frame;

one of the clamping devices being power operated and including a vertically-extending clamping plate mounted on the inner ends of a pair of horizontally-extending guide rolls each telescopically related to a guide sleeve mounted on one of the stands of the frame with a power cylinder fixed relative to the stand and having a piston rod extendable through the stand and fixed to the clamping plate for motivating the clamping plate into embracing position with respect to a respective end of the paper roll;

the other of the clamping devices being manually operated and including a vertically-extending clamping plate and receivable through the respective guidewuy slots of the stands of the frame for horizontal and vertical movemerits relative thereto;

power cylinder drive means operatively connected to one end of the mounting bar for effecting the vertical movement thereof,

motor driven reciprocating means operatively connected to the opposite end of the mounting bar for effecting the horizontal reciprocating movement thereof. and

a horizontally-disposed cutting knife mounted on and depending downwardly from the mounting bar for reciprocation therewith. 

1. A paper roll splitter for splitting a paper roll along and through a radius thereof comprising in combination: a frame in the form of a pair of spaced vertically-extending stands disposed as to each other for the disposition of the paper roll therebetween; a pair of telescoping clamping devices for holding the paper roll in fixed relationship to and between the stands of the frame; one of the clamping devices being power operated and including a vertically-extending clamping plate mounted on the inner ends of a pair of horizontally-extending guide rolls each telescopically related to a guide sleeve mounted on one of the stands of the frame with a power cylinder fixed relative to the stand and having a piston rod extendable through the stand and fixed to the clamping plate for motivating the clamping plate into embracing position with respect to a respective end of the paper roll; the other of the clamping devices being manually operated and including a vertically-extending clamping plate mounted on the inner ends of a pair of horizonatally-extending guide rods each slidably related to a guide sleeve mounted on the other of the stands of the frame for manually motivating the clamping plate into embracing position with respect to the other respective end of the paper roll; a vertically extending guideway slot on the inboard face of each stand of the frame; a horizontally-disposed mounting bar extendable between and receivable through the respective guideway slots of the stands of the frame for horizontal and vertical movements relative thereto; power cylinder drive means operatively connected to one end of the mounting bar for effecting the vertical movement thereof, motor driven reciprocating means operatively connected to the opposite end of the mounting bar for effecting the horizontal reciprocating movement thereof, and a horizontally-disposed cutting knife mounted on and depending downwardly from the mounting bar for reciprocation therewith. 